May 30

In Literacy, we will continue to collaborate with Science by writing our ocean animal words. We will even add ocean animal stories this week. We will also practice our skills as authors by drawing out some of our favorite read aloud stories (like Where the Wild Things Are and Harold and the Purple Crayon) and adding labels and storytelling language to our illustrations!

In Math, we will have some fun playing different games using our shape and counting skills.

In Science, the children are very interested in sea creatures and have begun to talk about sea birds. We have read several books about watery environments besides the ocean. These books include: Over in the Wetlands by Caroline Star Rose, On Duck Pondby Jane Yolen, and The Little Islandby Margaret Brown. Each book focuses on a different water system and the animals that can be found in those environments. While working on this theme, the children will create stories for a Crankie. A Crankie is a box with the front cut out like a TV screen so that a long paper could be scrolled through, displaying a different scene in the box’s window. The children will work in small groups drawing on the paper and dictating a corresponding story. Then they will view each other's moving stories.

In Drama, we will continue on our trickster track with the old favorite, Chicken Little. The children will play a variety of fowl who may or may not be tricked by a fox. Each character has a different move as they go along their way. We will explore many different ways of getting from one place to another.

In Art, work on our self-portraits will continue. We completed images of ourselves and will now work on our découpage frames/backgrounds.

In Music, we will be singing all of our songs for the upcoming end of year Sings. We will add movements and perform for each other. We also will look at images that relate to the lyrics in the songs and decide which songs they correspond to.

In ASL, we will learn these new words: Crow (blackbird), Flamingo (pink bird) and Clam.

May 22

In Literacy, we will continue practicing sequencing with a few more stories on our sequencing clothesline (including a class favorite, There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly). We will also play new games building letters and words - using magnet letters and tangrams. We will collaborate with Science by writing our ocean animal words for a chart that will be posted in our new under the sea section of our classroom!

In Math, from the inspiration of the activity last week with The Very Hungry Caterpillar, we will have some caterpillar fun while subitizing. The students will roll the dice and, using dab-a-dot markers, create the body of the caterpillar. The number of dots will correspond to the total number on the dice.

In Science, we will continue talking about sea birds. Children who are interested will create a small sea life classification chart. But we will also make a big sea animals’ chart for our classroom. This project will give us the opportunity to identify sea animals, work on name/word recognition, and practice writing skills.

In Drama, we will reenact another trickster tale with our friend, Coyote called "Coyote's Flying Lesson." We will continue to incorporate ASL in the storytelling. The children will be the crows who teach Coyote how to fly. There is also a drawing component.

In Art, as we near the end of the year we will return to the self-portrait to look at ourselves, think about how we have grown and explore our improving observational and fine-motor skills. We will use a decoupage technique to create a tissue paper background and black markers on white paper to draw the image of ourselves.

In Music, we will sing our favorite songs from the year in preparation for our end of year Sing. We will also play a game with the nursery rhyme, Hey Diddle Diddle in which the students will be the dish and the spoon. We will also listen to a violin playing in the Aquarium movement in Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saens and talk about what we 'see' and hear! Click here for an undersea version of Carnival of the Animals.

In ASL, we will learn these new words: Stingray, Shrimp, and Seal.

May 15

In Literacy, we will continue our review of sequencing in storytelling. We will collaborate with Math and explore one of our favorite books, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We will retell the story with our sequencing clothesline that we have been using for Brown Bear, Brown Bear. Bonus challenge: try to add the days of the week in order to our sequencing game!

In Math, we will utilize our one-to-one corresponding and counting skills as we collaborate with literacy to explore one of our favorites -- The Very Hungry Caterpillar. After retelling the story in sequence in the Literacy Center, we will finish by placing the corresponding fruits eaten by the caterpillar throughout the week in the story.

In Science, we will begin to play in our child-made under the water sea area. The children will act out the roles of their favorite sea creatures. We will continue to read all the wonderful books on sea life and play some theme related games, including Starfish Match and Find the Starfish. We will hide the starfish in the classroom. Then the children will be given charts with pictures of the starfish so they could mark them off as they find them.

In Drama, we are moving on to some animal trickster tales from the desert and other regions. We will begin with mischievous Coyote and friends like Crow and Turkey. These stories incorporate call and response and ASL.

In Art, it’s back to the easel for the perfect open-ended sensory experience that is painting. With this project, as with any art project at CHP, children should dress in play clothes as paint tends to find a way under smocks. In addition, the art table will be covered with a large sheet of paper each day and various materials will be made available for drop-in, open-ended collaborative exploration.

In Music, we are going to continue singing and having fun with many of our current ocean songs! We will start a fun fingerplay about the Turtle using our ASL signs.

Here is a TurtleHe lives in a shellHe likes his home very well!He swims in the waterHe climbs on the rocksHe tucks his head inHis little shell box.He snaps at the minnowHe snaps at the fleaHe snaps at the mosquitoHe snaps at me.He catches the minnowHe catches the fleaHe catches the mosquitoBut he doesn't catch me!!!

We will also be adding some fun dance moves to the Ocean Motion songs (Do the Locomotion, Carole King) with help from our literacy teacher Christy! We will be using the crab, shark, fish and octopus to act out these animals in a fun and musical way!!

In ASL, we will learn these new words: Eel, Sea Lion, and Lobster.

may 8

In Literacy, we will play sequencing in storytelling and practice naming the features of a book. We will retell some of our favorite read aloud stories with props, dialogue bubbles, puppets and more!

In Math, we will revisit one of our new concepts learned earlier in the year: Subitizing. As a small refresher, subitizing is the ability to see a number of something and know how many there are without counting. Following the same concept of the original bingo game, we will play dot bingo where the children will match their game card to the cards being shown. We’ll play until someone wins bingo!

In Science, we will begin to play in our child-made under the water sea area. The children will have the chance to act out the roles of their favorite sea creatures. We will continue to read all the wonderful books on sea life and play some theme related games, including Starfish Match and Find the Starfish. We will hide the starfish in the classroom. Then the children will be given charts with pictures of the starfish so they could mark them off as they find them.

In Drama, we will complete the "Swimmy" project. We will put all of the explorations of setting, plot, and supporting/main character development together to tell the story. The children will incorporate props, costume accessories, music, and movement.

In Art, we will put the finishing touches on our Mother’s Day projects which will be ready and heading home at the end of the week -- for your special day!

In Music, we will continue to sing songs using the sign language words we are learning: sea turtle, seaweed, sea horse, and shell. We will observe the largest string instrument -- the upright bass. If the bass were an animal, which animal would it be? We'll hear and see the vibrating strings and look at how a rubber band vibrates to make a sound.

In ASL, we will learn these new words: Wave, Swordfish, Crab.

May 1

In Literacy, we will review alliteration, which are words that have the same initial sound. We will read alliteration books with the first letter in our name and write our very own name alliteration book. We will also explore writing our name with different and fun materials - not just a pencil or a marker!

In Math, we will continue to classify the different sea creatures but, instead of by size, we will classify them by categories (whales with whales, dolphins with dolphins, etc.). Then, once they are grouped properly, we will guesstimate which group is the heaviest and which is the lightest. We will check our guesstimation by using a scale to weigh the groups and confirm whether or not we were correct.

In Science, we will continue to focus on whales and other sea creatures. The children will draw and dictate stories about sea life for our classroom book Whale Tales. We will also prepare our indoor play space which is becoming an Under-the-Sea play environment.

In Drama, we will continue to add story elements and characters to our Swimmy story project incorporating character movement and music that identify characters and enhance the plot dramatically.

In Art, shhhhhhhhh it’s a secret! We are working on Mother’s Day projects!

In Music, we will add hand motions and movements to the first verse and continue singing the chorus of You Can Count on Me, by Bruno Mars. We will fill in the rhyming words for Froggy Went a Courtin' as we sing the song (two little ants did a little dance, etc.). And we will also fill in beats of silence with the drum.

In ASL, we will learn these new words: Seaweed, Shell, Sea Horse, and Sea Turtle.